Finally!

After 3 1/2 years we finally got together with Justin and Kristi! WooHoo! Justin called me over the weekend and we set a time to "play." Since they hadn't seen Caden since he was a newborn and have never seen Syd I thought we would bring them. I think I had temporary amnesia of how hard it is to actually have a conversation when you have two little kids with you at a restaurant. I am now making a mental note...get a babysitter. :)

It was okay at first. We met at B.J.'s Restaurant at around 6:30 pm. Caden was excited to sit in a booster, and Syd did okay in her highchair. As we were getting settled, chatting away, and trying to figure out what to order...Caden proceeded to play with the blinds, and Syd started having a fit because she didn't want to be buckled into the highchair. We decided to have Caden trade places with Kristi so that he wouldn't have access to the blinds, and I wouldn't have to man both kids. That worked out pretty well. We finally figured out what to eat, and placed the order. Then tried to have a conversation while Syd continually threw whatever was in her reach onto the floor. Then Caden actually told me that he had to go "potty" (yay!). I excused myself and took him. He still has to take off all of his clothes (minus the shirt) to go so that makes public restrooms soooo much fun! The food was great! I am glad that Justin recommended it. We finished up and continued talking while our kids wandered a bit around the restaurant. Thank goodness it wasn't too busy. It was still a great time, but the kids do make life interesting.

Justin and Kristi went on the same Hawaiian cruise that we are going to be going on for our Anniversary. They gave us alot of pointers on what we should do to make our trip more enjoyable. It is kinda nice to know things before hand. They had alot of fun on their cruise, and hopefully so will we.

It was so nice to see them and catch up on what they have been doing the past couple of years. We even are going over to their house on Monday for a BBQ. (without the kids :) I hope to be able to keep in better contact with them and not let years go by without seeing them.

Birthday's and Potty Update

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, she turned 65! We had all the family come over to our house to celebrate. I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters so when my immediate family gathers...it is big, and last night we had all of them PLUS aunts, uncles and cousins! The house was full, but it was nice to visit and hang out with family.

Birthday's are funny things. As a child I remember counting down the days until my next birthday, wondering what kind of party I would have, what kind of presents I would get, anticipating being a whole year older! It seems that over the years they lose the appeal that we had when we were young. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy birthdays, but as the years go by I don't feel any older. I remember once someone telling me that even though they were 30 they felt like they had just turned 18. I thought they were crazy at the time..."How could someone that OLD (hehe) feel like they are 18!?" And now I am starting to realize what they meant. I will be turning 28 this year, going to my 10 year class reunion, yet I feel like I just graduated last year. It is really true when they say, "The body may age, but the soul stays young forever."

You can see that in my mother. She is a great woman. Probably one of the most giving, energetic, funny, entertaining person's I know. If I would have known her when she was in high school...she probably hasn't changed much. There are times that we don't always see eye to eye, and she frustrates me. But in the end I love her very much. I am thankful to have her as my mom. I hope that her birthday was a good one....I think that it was.

One thing that I hope to do this year is to try to make some type of contact with friends and family on their birthday. My sister, Nancy, is awesome with this. I have tried to do it in the past, but I always seem to miss somebody. Today happens to be an old friends birthday. Justin Yentes is a whole year older today. Happy Birthday Justin!!!! I have know Justin since I was a junior in high school. We met back in the day when I worked for Organ Stop Pizza He used to drive me home from work when we worked late, and we always had major discussions about religion. He later ended up investigating my church and joined when we were Seniors in high school. He is a great guy. I really look up to him for the courage he had back then. It was hard and amazing to watch him struggle and grow. Since we have both gotten married we have really lost contact. I usually end up calling him on his birthday (we already called him, and Caden and I sang Happy Birthday to him on his voicemail.) and he usually calls me on mine. We always say we need to go on a double, but never seem to actually make it on one. Hopefully he will call us back, and we can actually set a date. I think the last time we actually got together was when we blessed Caden. That was over 3 years ago!

On another note...an update on the Potty Training Saga

At the end of last week, Caden had gone through his pull-ups. I had decided that I was just going to put him back in diapers because the pull-ups were costing us way too much money. When it came down to it, I just couldn't go and buy them. The thought of going all the way back to diapers just sickened me. So I decided to bite the bullet and go cold turkey!

Before we had put him in pull-ups the first time he was doing pretty well going pee-pee in the potty. It was the poop that he had problems with. I just got so sick of cleaning the poop out (because this kid goes 2-3 times a day!) I just didn't want to do it anymore. The problem with putting him in pull-ups is he ended up treating them like a diaper. I really don't know how any child can really train themselves in a pull-up. I think it is a stupid marketing ploy that they use because in all reality...it is alot easier to clean up a pull-up than it is real underwear. But really, they absorb like a diaper, so the kid doesn't get it. I think we all hope they will, because it is more convenient for us as parents, but in reality ---they don't work!!!! Let me know if I am wrong, I would like to know if there is anyone out there that actually used pull-ups and was able to train their child in them because it didn't work for me. My child regressed instead.

So on Sunday we went to real underwear...and that is it. Caden knows when he needs to go, but had gotten lazy because of the pull-ups. So the first couple of days, as expected, he had numerous accidents. As the week progressed he has had fewer and fewer accidents. He is still working on #2...but he is doing so well! I am so proud of him! Yesterday he actually went the whole day without having an accident, and that included when we had the huge crowd at our house! I was surprised, but very happy. I know he will still have accidents for a while, but I think we are finally on the right track! YIPPEE!!